At the Beginning
by gryfndrprefct347
Summary: Short Ron/Hermione fic about their lives post-Voldemort. Please Review! I now accept annonymous reviews!
1. Chapter 1

I don't own anything...seriously, not even this computer...

It was September, the twentieth, 1998. The day after Hermione's nineteenth birthday. Her _golden _birthday. She clambered out of the bed in her recently acquired flat in London, near the Leaky Cauldron. For someone who had moved in only weeks earlier, it was probably the cleanest, most organized flat in all of Europe.

She went into the bathroom to begin her morning ritual. Get up, brush teeth, then take a shower. Get dressed, do something with her hair, and apply the little makeup she wore. Make her bed, tidy her bedroom, eat breakfast, and head into work. It was a pretty average morning schedule, but today was Sunday, and she didn't have to go into work. She took an extra long time getting ready this morning. She brushed her teeth one by one, and even bothered to tame her bushy head of hair. She didn't want to have time to think. She had to keep herself busy so as not to bring up the events of the previous night…

_Ron had taken her to a fancy muggle restaurant for her birthday. You know, the kind where they even place a napkin on your lap for you, because apparently you are too lazy to do it for yourself. The dinner was wonderful, but Ron was acting strange all night. Hermione was used to him not being himself on dates, generally because he was always so nervous about messing things up, but this was different. He hardly talked at all, and didn't even ask about any of the strange muggle artifacts surrounding them. _

_At one point after dinner, he turned to Hermione and asked her to follow him outside, to the garden behind the restaurant. She kindly agreed and proceeded to follow him out. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she noticed that there were fairy lights twinkling all around them. When she looked down in front of her, Ron was on one knee, gazing up into her eyes._

"_Hermione, I have always loved you…even since first year, I think. And, er…well, oh, bloody hell, I'm rubbish at this… Umm…I guess what I'm trying to get at is, Hermione, will you marry-"_

"_NO!" she yelled suddenly. It was just sort of an instinct reaction and she felt terribly guilty when she saw the look of vast disappointment and shame on his face. "I mean, just not…um…now?"_

_Ron stood up and gave her a fake smile. "Of course. Why would you want to marry me? I shouldn't have asked…I'm sorry, I just…never mind, then. I'll just take you home." _

_She stood at the door to her flat a few minutes later, waiting for him to say something, anything to her, but he didn't. He just gave her that same fake smile, kissed her cheek and said, "I get it, Hermione. It's fine…you must know loads of handsome blokes from work. Why would you choose me? Goodbye, Hermione." And then he simply walked away…_

"ARGH!" she yelled at herself.

She was picking up the dress she had worn the previous night from the floor, where she had left it, when Ginny apparated directly into her bedroom. She flinched at the noise, but did not look up from the dress she was holding. "Didn't anyone ever tell you not to apparate into someone's house? It's rude."

Ginny shushed her, and asked, "So, how was your date with Ron last night?"

"Umm…it was really great. He took me to a fancy muggle restaurant. Our meal was wonderful. We really did have a great time…" she said sadly. "He, er, proposed to me," she added as an afterthought.

Ginny let out a high, girlish scream that Hermione would have never expected from her. "Oooh! Can I see the ring?" she asked grabbing Hermione's hand. Her face fell when she saw that there wasn't a ring on her finger. "Wha- What happened?"

Hermione shrugged and finally let the threatening tears spill over, "I said no."

"What?!" Ginny shrieked. "How in the name of Merlin's pants could you say no? To Ron! Fragile little baby Ron! You know, that guy you've loved since first year? Ron, Hermione!"

"I didn't mean to," she mumbled, tears streaming down her pale face. "I just…panicked…"

Ginny pulled Hermione into a comforting hug. "Well, I think you're going to need to talk to Ron. Mum sent me over here to invite you over tonight. That seems as good a time as ever…"

Hermione shook her head slightly and gave a watery smile to her practically-sister. "Thanks Ginny."

Update ASAP...don't know how soon that will be though...


	2. Chapter 2

Still don't own anything...

Immediately after talking to Ginny, Hermione apparated to the Burrow. She tentatively knocked on the battered door, and a cheery-looking Mrs. Weasley answered it, a bowl of sprouts under one arm, and her wand in the other. "Hello, Hermione dear." The Burrow was a place that she normally would have enjoyed visiting. Everyone was always so kind, and warm, and loving. Ron, however, refused to talk to her, making her feel more and more guilty by the moment. She planned to talk to him immediately after supper, but he had already left and shut himself up in his room.

She didn't want to make him any angrier than he already was, so she left him be…she would just talk to him in the morning…

She got through the remainder of the painfully long day and lied down to sleep that night in Percy's old room. She mentally prepared herself for the sleep full of nightmares that she was sure would come. She wasn't used to sleeping by herself, in fact, Ron had stayed with her nearly every night since the war ended, except for the previous night, during which she didn't sleep a wink.

She tossed and turned in bed for a few hours. It was about two o'clock in the morning when she decided that it was useless to even try to sleep. She quietly climbed out of bed and tip-toed up the stairs to Ron's bedroom.

The knocked gently on the door, wondering to herself if he was awake. She heard the shuffle of his feet on the floor, the click of the lock on the door, and the squeak of his bed as he climbed back onto it. He had locked her out.

"Ron, please, I need to talk to you. I didn't mean what I said last night. Don't do this to me. I just need to talk to you…please?" Her knocking slowed as her plea came to an end. Her hand dropped to her side. Hermione turned away, feeling more rejected than ever. "I choose you, Ron…it's always been you…" she mumbled, walking away.

She heard the door open behind her and she saw his muscular, freckled arms wrap around her waist. He softly rested his chin on her shoulder and whispered, "Then why did you say no?"

"Ron, I- I just…"

"Save it, Hermione. If you really don't want us to be together anymore, then just go away. I don't care anymore." His arms fell away from her waist, taking their sense of protection with them. "Goodbye, Hermione."

She couldn't take it anymore. She grabbed his arm. "Ron, wait." He turned around, facing her. "I, we, er…Can we go somewhere and talk? I do love you Ron…so much, and I just need to talk to you again. Before we do something serious…"

By this time, Hermione had tears silently streaming down her face. "Please, Ron…" she whimpered.

He stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her again, and hugged her to his chest. She inhaled his scent. He was everything she smelled in Amortentia. He softly kissed her forehead and whispered, "I'm sorry."

She nodded gratefully and looked up at him with a watery smile on her face. "Can we go lay down?" she asked shyly.

He smiled and nodded, "We can talk in the morning."

Hermione grinned and somehow knew that everything was going to be all right.

One more chapter to go! I don't know how much time I'll have to finish this today, but I will for sure have it up by next weekend, so if you want to know right away, put this story on your alerts! Thanks for reading and please review!!


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Sorry it's been so long since my last update…my computer crashed a while ago, and I lost all of my files, including the endings of all my fanfics. I'd like to give a special thanks to TwilightEmmett for reviewing and inspiring me to actually finish this story!! Now…on with the final chapter…hope you enjoy it!**

Hermione awoke rather abruptly the next morning to find that Ron was already out of bed. This was very un-characteristic of him, given the early hour. She rolled slowly out of his warm bed and slipped on her dressing gown. Nervously, she made her way down the winding stairs of the Burrow to the kitchen.

He was standing with his back to her and she could easily see the toned muscles of his shoulders and arms through his plain white shirt. She felt her heart swell at the very sight of him. Biting her lip, she quietly crept up behind him. He was staring out the window, watching the sun rise, calmly stirring a mug of tea. Hermione stretched up onto her tip-toes and into his ear, she whispered, "Good morning, love."

Quicker than she would have believed possible, Ron spun around, his wand already in his hand, his eyes blazing. She had seen that look in his eye once before, in Malfoy Manor. She shrunk back, frightened for a fraction of a second. When he realized it was Hermione who had snuck up on him, he lowered his wand and let out a sigh of relief. "Merlin, Hermione. You nearly gave me heart failure."

Still shocked at his reaction, she squeaked, "Sorry. I- er…I didn't mean to…"

He smiled and slowly shook his head. Without giving her much warning, he bent down and scooped her into his arms. Slightly surprised at the fact that he could carry her around so easily, Hermione's face broke into a wide grin as she wrapped her arms around his neck and softly kissed him. "I love you, you know…I really do."

He simply nodded as he carried her out into the back garden of the burrow. Conjuring a blanket, he slowly lowered her to the ground in a secluded area of the yard that Hermione had never seen before. He sat down next to her, the rising sun giving his hair a marvelous copper tone. She rested her head on his shoulder. He softly said, "Sorry about my reaction in the kitchen…you snuck up on me…"

"I was just surprised you were still so on guard, is all…It seems everyone else has just accepted the completely rubbish belief that we're all safe now," she paused, waiting to se see if he would speak. He didn't, so she continued on, "That's why I'm so afraid Ron. No one's safe. There are still so many supporters of Voldemort out there…People are just assuming that they're safe now Voldemort's been defeated, but they're not. We're not."

He pulled her closer to him. "This is why you said no, isn't it?"

Tears were now silently falling from her eyes. She took in a shaky breath and whispered, "Yes." Standing up, she wandered over to a large tree a few feet from the blanket, and leaned against it. "Everyday, I think about everyone we lost in the war. There are so many death eaters still on the loose and I can't help but imagine what it would be like if I…if I lost you to one of them. When you asked me to marry you, I- I freaked out. Ron, I saw the look on Tonks' face when she heard Remus was off dueling Dolohov during the battle. I can't even begin to imagine how she must have felt…to not know if the one you love is safe or not… They had so little time together before they were torn apart. I just…I just don't want that to happen to you and me…"

Ron slowly walked to stand in front of her and he placed one hand on either side of her, pinning her to the tree and forcing her to look him in the eye. "I will never let anything happen to us, Hermione. Ever since Malfoy Manor…I've known I can't live without you. I will do whatever it takes to make you feel safe again. Think about it, when we met, we were just two clueless midgets, completely unaware of this bloody unbelievable journey Harry freaking Potter was going to bring us on. I could never have dreamt all the crap we were going to have to go through. But now…here we are…alive and healthy, at the beginning again."

She gave him a watery smile and whispered, "You know…you definitely have the emotional range of more than a teaspoon…maybe even an entire soup spoon full." At this, they both laughed, each remembering the days before the war. Quietly, she continued, "And…if a certain red-haired boy were to ask me to marry him again…I might have a different answer…"

Grinning, he looked down into her reddened eyes and once again asked the timeless words, "Hermione Granger, will you marry me?"

A shy smile appeared on Hermione's face as she whispered back the word that Ron was most eager to hear, "Yes."

Ron blushed slightly and licked his lips, gently sliding one hand behind her neck, pulling her up against him. "Thank Merlin," he joked, pressing his lips softly to hers. She kissed him back, feeling her heart speed up and her body respond. His hand slowly made its way to her unruly brown hair as she pressed her hands to his broad chest. He placed his other hand on her bum, slowly lifting her up. Carefully, without breaking the kiss, he brought them back to the blanket.

As soon as he set her down, Hermione pulled back. Gasping for breath, she managed a single word, "Wow."

Smiling widely at his fiancée, Ron replied, "Yeah…and think…that was just the beginning…"


End file.
